France and Switzerland

Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1881 edition. Excerpt: ...manure. Seaweeds are collected all along the coast, to be applied to the fields; and in the bogs of Cancale and St. Michel the peasants annually take up 500,000 tons of mud mixed with fragments of shells, which they spread over their fields. These fertilising-agents are all the more appreciated as the crystalline and palreozoic rocks of Brittany contain hardly any lime at all. The fishing grounds of Brittany are amongst the most productive of France. The peasants of Quimper and Chziteaulin formerly almost lived upon salmon, and farm-labourers objected to their being required to eat it more than thrice a week. Thousands of men are engaged in the coast fisheries, yielding herrings, sardines, mackerel, lobsters, and oysters; and Breton fishermen, inured to the hardships of a seafaring life, annually visit the fishing grounds of Newfoundland and Iceland. Many amongst them work in the fields during winter, or collect seaweed, but early in spring engage themselves as sailors on board the vessels proceeding to the Arctic regions. The four departments of Brittany supply the mercantile marine of France with one-fifth of its sailors. INHABITANTS. THE inhabitants of Brittany differ from those of the rest of France in language. manners, and social condition. themselves longer than in the more accessible parts of France, and the Druids enjoyed most power. The modern Bretons are no doubt, to a large extent, the descendants of these ancient Armoricans, but kindred Celtic tribes, driven from Great Britain through the invasion of the Anglo-Saxons, settled amongst themThese new arrivals founded the towns of St. Brieuc, St. Male, and others. Being superior in intelligence to the aboriginal population, they soon gained a preponderance, and Armorica became...show more